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William Herder
William Herder (born 1962) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2014 to 2015, succeeding Ernest Oliver and preceding Kathleen Urban. In 2015, his crowning achievements were the passage of the law abolishing the British monarchy and the introduction of direct elections for Prime Ministers. Ironically, the democratization of British politics led to UKIP being excluded from government for many years, as its previous successes had been owed to its parliamentary alliances and not entirely to its party popularity. Biography William Herder was born in Crewe, Cheshire, England in 1962, and he practiced law before being recruited by UKIP as a parliamentary candidate in 2005. He was elected amidst a wave of support for UKIP; 29.41% of Britons voted for UKIP, electing 9 MPs and making them the largest party in Parliament. In 2012, he was groomed by the party as its deputy leader, and Prime Minister Harold Uxbridge often considered stepping down to let Herder become Prime Minister whenever the party suffered electoral reverses. In 2013, after UKIP placed third in the general election, Uxbridge was forced to step down as Prime Minister, and he also stepped down as UKIP Leader, making way for Herder to become its new leader. Premiership Herder used the party's vast finances to attack the Lib Dems and the Labour Party enough that Prime Minister Ernest Oliver's Lib Dems placed third in the general elections of 2014 and Oliver himself was eliminated from the leadership contest. Herder faced off against Labour Party leader Harold Becket, and he handily defeated the Labour leader 18-9. Rather than pick up where Uxbridge left off, Herder sought to rebuild the UKIP party as well as spur on the country's economic growth and revitalize its modernization programme. The government supported a torture prohibition law 19-3, approved an alcohol tax 14-13, passed a pollution tax 12-11, approved a coffee tax 15-9, narrowly failed to implement a tobacco tax 12-10, allowed for an agricultural subsidy to be enacted (while formally abstaining), rejected prime ministerial term limits, failed to implement prison labor 14-8, supported an arts subsidies program 16-8, kept gambling legal, continued nuclear testing after a 12-12 vote to abolish it, narrowly failed to introduce a press freedom amendment to the constitution, maintained the port tax 14-10, and failed to pass a car tax 17-8 and highway tolls 17-7. In the second week of 2015, the general election resulted in Labour receiving 24.95% of the vote and 7 MPs, UKIP 24% and 7 MPs, the Lib Dems 22.11% and 7 MPs, the Tories 23.03% and 7 MPs, and the SNP 5.92% and 2 MPs. Herder won the leadership election 18-8, defeating Becket once again. During his second term, Herder approved the creation of an ambulance service 22-0, kept Olympic Games 19-5, kept drivers' licenses 20-4, and again defeated a prime ministerial term limits bill. A poll released in the 19th week of 2015 had UKIP have the highest amount of support at 25.3%, trailed by the Tories at 24.3%, Labour at 23.1%, the Lib Dems at 20.5%, and the SNP at 6.8%. Finally, Herder accomplished one of UKIP's main goals, abolishing the monarchy; in a vote of 16-6 (with 5 abstentions), UKIP, Labour, most Lib Dems, and a faction of Tories voted in favor of ending the monarchy. Herder then transformed the country into a republic by signing Reading's direct elections for Prime Minister bill into law. UKIP then abstained from a church tax bill which was handily rejected 13-2, and it supported a land tax bill which failed 12-11. UKIP also failed to expand Parliament to 40 seats 18-9. However, a week later (Week 37 of 2015), UKIP became the largest party with 27.18% of the vote and 8 seats, while the Tories won 23.79% and 7 seats, Labour won 23.13% and 7 seats, the Lib Dems won 19.64% and 6 seats, and the SNP won 6.26% and 2 seats. In the ensuing election, however, Urban was elected Prime Minister with 24.5% of the vote, followed by Becket with 20.2%, Herder with 19.6%, Oliver with 19.6%, and SNP leader Annie Edmiston with 16%. Ironically enough, Herder's abolition of the monarchy and parliamentary democracy ousted his own party from power. Herder would often serve as Leader of the Opposition whenever UKIP was the largest party in Parliament, opposing Presidents Urban and Oliver. He successfully passed a law setting elections for every 55 weeks in order to provide stability to the country, and he continued to defend tax and social spending programs in the country. In 2019, however, he was personally affected by former Prime Minister Elizabeth Reading's defection to the Lib Dems, and he decided to retire from politics, leaving Uxbridge as UKIP leader once again. Category:1962 births Category:British politicians Category:British Category:Politicians Category:Anglicans Category:Protestants Category:UKIP members Category:British conservatives Category:Conservatives Category:British prime ministers Category:Prime ministers Category:EnglishCategory:Living people